Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, California, began accepting COVID-19 patients with dementia Dec. 28, as Orange County officials attempted to lighten the strain on local hospitals overbooked as the result of the surging pandemic. The center has created a special ward for the patients, with 50 beds housed in a separate building from its other patients. Fairview recently reopened as part of the county’s efforts to expand hospital facilities and provide overflow locations, offering up to 180 beds for people infected with the disease in its main unit. The special ward came into fruition as the result of a collaboration between the nonprofit organization Alzheimer’s Orange County, the Orange County Health Care Agency, and the California Department of Developmental Services, which manages the Fairview campus. Vic Mazmanian, who has been a caregiver advocate for people in Orange County with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for over 30 years, called the …